Tennessee Titans vs. Detroit Lions: Fantasy Football Outlook

Fantasy football is a part of most football fans’ lives. The Detroit Lions and Tennessee Titans matchup has some fantasy appeal.

I took a look at the fantasy football outlook for last week’s matchup against the Minnesota Vikings and was mostly hit-or-miss in my analysis. Stefon Diggs, Kyle Rudolph and DeMarco Murray all had good games, but Delanie Walker and Adrian Peterson were flops. I thought Marcus Mariota would struggle in the matchup and he did, although he posted a respectable fantasy line.

This week’s matchup has the makings of a fantasy football stat-fest. The Lions are coming off a 39-point offensive performance in which they also gave up 35 points. It should be easier sledding for the Titans offense in this one, while the Lions offense will probably keep rolling.

Marcus Mariota

Mariota had a tough day at the office last Sunday, yet he still came away with 290 total yards and two touchdowns. This week sets up much better for him as the Lions bled fantasy points to last week’s top fantasy quarterback, Andrew Luck. I think the Titans might fall behind in this one, setting up nicely for Mariota’s fantasy floor and ceiling. I’m using him in daily fantasy tournaments as a high-upside play.

Tajae Sharpe

The best story of the offseason/preseason was Sharpe becoming the Titans number one receiver. That hype carried over into week one as Sharpe was the Titans leading receiver with seven catches and 76 yards. A slick route runner with exceptional hands, Sharpe has become a favorite of the fans and of our quarterback. The Lions defense is not very good, so fire up Sharpe into your lineups. A Mariota/Sharpe stack in daily fantasy lineups has the potential to win people some money.

More from Titan Sized

Delanie Walker

I talked about Walker in last week’s piece and highlighted him in the matchups to watch against the Lions. I wrote why he could have a big game in that piece, and Detroit’s best coverage linebacker, DeAndre Levy, has been ruled out since that article published. Walker needs to, and will, be more involved this week and should pay off big for fantasy owners that spent a high pick on him.

Matthew Stafford

The Titans strength on defense is their ability to stop the run. We saw that at times last season and in week one this year. For that reason, I haven’t highlighted Lions running backs Ameer Abdullah and Theo Riddick (they are still solid flex plays). Our passing defense needs work, and Stafford won’t be the cure to our secondary problems. Stafford is coming off a dismantling of the Colts defense and now has a 22:2 touchdown to interception ratio since Jim Bob Cooter took over as the offensive coordinator in mid-2015. He’s a bankable QB1 this week and for most weeks.

Marvin Jones Jr.

Probably one of the craziest stats I’ve read this week: Stafford was 27-27 last week when NOT targeting Jones. All eight of his incompletions were when looking for Jones. That can be attributed to Jones being the big-play target on longer plays. Stafford took all of the short completions given to him last week and his pass-catchers made the most of them. It’s only a matter of time before Jones and Stafford connect on a couple of those big plays. At home against a defense that will attempt to take the short game away, this might be the week that happens.

Eric Ebron

I highlighted Ebron as a breakout candidate at tight end for this season, and his week one performance shed light on his 2016 potential. He played nearly all of the offensive snaps and did work with them, racking up five catches for 46 yards and a touchdown. Against a Titans defense that gave up four catches and 65 yards to Kyle Rudolph last week, Ebron should have another good outing for fantasy owners.

Next: Titans End of Week Notes/Links

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